Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte is another great representative of the Victorian writers whose spirit of observation and masterfully crafted images take us to another realm full of passion and desire. This might sound strange to the contemporary reader whose interpretation of these two words would dramatically differ from those of a Victorian person.

Charlotte Bronte’s merit is in depecting the insight of an intelligent, rebellious female character who has to live according the social norms of the time. The author skilfully reveals how the non-conformity of her character conforms to the reality. Her independent personnages all depend on the Victorian rigid patriachal conventions. Yet, they succeed in maintaining their spiritual integrity and find a way to realize their aspirations.

It is basically what she tried to do throughout her life. Hesitatingly, she together with her sisters paved the way for the new, innovative views on women and their place in society. They are the first to question the norms and to look for ways of integrating a woman’s passion and desire in the ‘men’s world’.

Charlotte Bronte tied to made herself heard on the pages of her books. However, she could not disclose her gender, signing her works with the pseudonym “Currer Bell”. In a latter she confessed:

“Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because—without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called ‘feminine’ – we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise.”

Due to the success of her novel ‘Jane Eyere” she became known and respected in the literary circles of the Victorian age. She was among the first to herald what was afterwards plainly stated in Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”.